Sore knee won’t keep Gibson out of opener

Hawaii guard Matt Gibson didn't attend the Rainbow Warriors' practice yesterday, but head coach Bob Nash expects the senior to be ready for tonight's season opener against San Diego at the Stan Sheriff Center.

Gibson appeared to hurt his knee when he took a spill during Wednesday's practice and sat out the latter portion of the session.

"We just wanted to hold him out, precautionary, just to make sure he's fine. I fully expect he'll be ready to go," Nash said.

Gibson has been the Rainbows' top point guard in the preseason coming off a junior year in which he averaged 10.2 points and 3.4 assists per game and is expected to be one of the Rainbows' primary scoring threats this season.

With Gibson out, freshman Kareem Nitoto worked with the first unit at the point yesterday. Senior Bobby Nash, expected to start at a forward spot, also got some time at point guard with the second team.

"Matt's a big part of our team, he's a leader emotionally for us. He brings a lot of energy to the table and the team sort of feeds off of him," Nitoto said.

"As much as I'd like to play, I know we need Matt to play. He's our floor general and he does pretty much everything. He plays hard every second; sometimes he carries the team on his shoulders and we need that."